For months, President Joe Biden relentlessly insisted that there was no chance of offering a pardon to his son Hunter.
But he eventually changed his mind and emerged from a Thanksgiving vacation at a $36 million Nantucket resort on Sunday to make the explosive announcement that he would save Hunter from a possible prison sentence.
DailyMail.com can now reveal what really happened during that five-day stay on a cold Massachusetts island and the run-up to the holiday that prompted Biden to make the call, never mind the stain on his legacy.
The decision came after a week of intense family time, which included a baby shower for his first great-grandchild and being bundled up with his wife and children in Nantucket’s Inner Harbor.
At the center of the 82-year-old’s decision was family, both Joe Biden’s unconditional love for him and the deep loyalty the Bidens have for each other.
Leading the charge was Jill Biden, known as her son’s “biggest supporter.” With her at the Nantucket compound were Hunter himself, his wife Melissa and the Bidens’ daughter, Ashley.
Biden’s devotion to his family is no secret.
President Joe Biden with his son Hunter and grandson Beau in Nantucket for Thanksgiving
Ashley Biden posted a thank you message to her father on her Instagram Story after President Biden announced Hunter’s pardon.
He cared for his two young children in the hospital after the 1972 car accident that killed his first wife and daughter.
He buried Beau, the political heir to the Biden dynasty, in 2015 after his eldest son succumbed to brain cancer.
And she has privately agonized over Hunter’s addiction, and the fear of his return is a constant weight on her shoulders.
His family appreciated his decision.
‘Thank you dad. What they have tried to do to my brother is cruel and politically motivated. Period. Proud sister + daughter,’ Ashley Biden wrote on her Instagram Story after Hunter’s pardon was announced.
And two of Hunter’s biggest defenders had the president’s attention over the past 10 days: Jill Biden and Naomi Biden Neal.
Neal, Hunter’s eldest daughter, had her baby shower in the Blue Room of the White House on Saturday, November 23. He’s due to be with the president’s first great-grandson, and Hunter’s first grandson, in the coming weeks.
Biden was seen stopping by, cup of coffee in hand, to talk to guests over eggs benedict and pancakes.
And then there’s the first lady.
“Hunter doesn’t have a better defender than Jill,” a source familiar said.
Jill Biden’s influence on Joe Biden should not be underestimated. She is the last voice in his ear.
And he has been steadfast in his support of Hunter, crossing the Atlantic Ocean several times in June during his weapons trial, to both be at his side as they participated in a state visit to France.
During that same trial, Naomi Biden Neal took the stand to defend her father. And after Hunter’s conviction, the president vowed not to forgive his son.
Naomi Biden, unlike previous years, did not accompany the Bidens to Nantucket. Neither do his sisters, Finnegan and Maisy. But Biden talks to his grandchildren every day.
And this trip was different from the previous ones. The Bidens have been going to the island off the coast of Massachusetts for the Thanksgiving holiday for 49 years. But none of their older grandchildren accompany them. So instead of a large family gathering of a dozen members, there were only six.
Jill Biden with Hunter, wife Melissa, son Beau and Ashley Biden at the Nantucket Christmas Tree Lighting Friday
The 13,000-foot-tall house belonging to David Rubenstein where the Bidens stayed in Nantucket
The Biden family, including Joe, Jill, Hunter, Melissa and Baby Beau, has been going to Nantucket for Thanksgiving for 49 years.
And Hunter remained behind closed doors for most of his stay on Nantucket. In previous years, he, his wife Melissa and son Beau had gone downtown for coffee and shopping.
This year, he was only seen at family lunch and shopping on Friday and attending church with his father on Saturday.
And the only high-level advisers who served on the president’s staff were his longtime advisers Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal. She, deputy chief of staff, heads the West Wing, and Bernal, Jill Biden’s top adviser, heads the East Wing.
Both have been with the Bidens for decades before reaching the White House.
In the Biden administration, they have more power than Chief of Staff Jeff Zients. And they are more feared.
And neither Tomasini nor Bernal are included to tell Joe Biden what he doesn’t want to hear.
“They don’t tell the president no unless it comes from Jill Biden,” a source familiar said.
Biden has always turned to family in difficult times: His sister Valerie helped him care for his children after his mother and sister died and he commuted to Washington, DC as a newly elected senator.
He holed up at Camp David with Jill, Hunter and his grandchildren after his disastrous debate against Donald Trump in June.
And he was with the first lady in Rehoboth Beach when he decided to drop out of the race. The entire Biden family surrounded him in the Oval Office as he explained his decision to the nation.
And family was the most important thing last week.
When asked by DailyMail.com on Thursday what he was grateful for, Biden’s first response was: “My family.”
One member of the family was young Beau Biden, Hunter’s four-year-old son and the future of the Biden clan.
Both the president and the first lady adore their grandson. President Biden held her hand as they walked the shopping streets of Nantucket on Friday. Jill Biden brought it with her last Monday when she received the National Christmas Tree at the White House.
Jill Biden is known to be the family member who holds grudges and expels those she sees as betraying Team Biden.
Kathleen Buhle, Hunter’s first wife, found herself on the outskirts after divorcing Hunter and writing about her struggle with addiction and the effect that drug use, cheating and spending money had on the family.
His book appeared after Hunter published his own memoirs, but that didn’t matter. Kathleen was away, including planning Naomi Biden’s wedding. When Hunter’s eldest daughter got married at the White House in November 2022, it was nicknamed “Jill’s wedding.”
The first lady took center stage and appeared alongside Naomi on the cover of Vogue.
On the contrary, Melissa Cohen has been well received. She and Hunter met in 2019 and married six days later. Hunter has credited it with helping him with his sobriety.
Baby Beau guides President Joe Biden as he shops in Nantucket as Hunter Biden walks with them
Jill Biden is Hunter Biden’s biggest supporter
Naomi Biden (left), with her husband Peter Neal, leaves her father Hunter’s trial in June
In the end, it was Biden who made the decision to forgive his son. But he achieved it in the bubble of his family.
And then he went to Africa, leaving his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, to try to explain the change in position.
But he still has the support of his family.
“Of course I support pardoning my son,” Jill Biden told reporters at the White House on Monday.